Many fields benefit from composite bonding inspection, including the aerospace and construction industries. Foreign materials (contaminants) can affect the surface energy of the bond surface, causing an impact on adhesion. As foreign materials can be sensed via the use of non destructive evaluation (NDE), this allows the use of something other than the direct measurement of the surface structure to evaluate the quality of the surface. Non contact sensing has the advantage of not touching the surface, a distinct improvement over existing methods. This approach was designed around the concept of being environmentally friendly, uses no consumables and is totally benign to the surfaces being bonded.